Gleiss Lutz has advised Daimler AG on the sale of its “Quartier am Potsdamer Platz” to SEB Bank for its open-end real estate fund “ImmoInvest”, based in Frankfurt am Main. The sale was the result of a bidding procedure. The “Quartier am Potsdamer Platz” is one of the most familiar modern architectural landmarks in Berlin, comprising 19 buildings with a total area of approximately 500,000 sqm (above and below ground). The complex is notable for the mixed purposes for which it is used – offices, condominiums and housing, Berlin’s largest shopping malls, the Grand Hyatt Hotel and the Mandala Hotel, various restaurants, a musical theatre, a cinema and a casino, thus forming an entire center-city district in the middle of Berlin. The sale also included two Daimler companies which operate the quarter. Daimler will remain at Potsdamer Platz by renting half the office space on a long-term basis.
The deal is expected to be closed by the end of the first quarter of 2008. The transaction is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.
The Gleiss Lutz team consisted of Dr. Detlef Schmidt (lead partner), Christian Steinke (partner), Dr. Tobias Boecken (partner), Dr. Tim Weber, Jürgen Heinzelmann, Dr. Hendrik Maroldt, Georg Rasche (all real estate, Berlin), Dr. Michael Marquardt (partner, Frankfurt), Dr. Johann Wagner (Berlin) (both tax), Dr. Stefan Lingemann (partner), Dr. Charlotte Beck (both employment, Berlin). Dr. Detlef Schmidt and his team already assisted Daimler on the sale and lease back of their group headquarters in Stuttgart-Möhringen.
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